Menu

Main menu

April 16, 2012

How One Michigan Classroom Has Reversed Work At School And Home

Teachers in Clintondale High School, just outside of Detroit, have reversed the places where students do schoolwork and homework. Teachers make videos of their lessons for students to watch at home, and they help students do the homework in the classroom. Dick talks to student Dominique Moody, teacher Rob Townsend (pictured), and principal Greg Green about the strategy known as flipping. They say it allows teachers to give more individual attention, and helps students learn more.

Norma Hotaling was a prostitute and drug addict for a decade before she turned her life around. Then, with the help of a cop who had arrested her numerous times, she began what she calls a "John School" - the First Offender Prostitution Program. Located in San Francisco, the school caters to men arrested soliciting sex for the first time. Also in this episode: 93-year-old marion Downs has her say. And listener Richard Watson contributes to our series "Your Story."

Ryo Souma is an art teacher in Japan. His school is about 35 miles from the damaged nuclear reactor, so he and his students wear face masks to guard against radioactive particles. They wear the masks to school, and during lessons. He says that the stories of those who lost lives and loved ones in the tsunami are being told … but his story, the story of the impact of radiation, is not.

Last September, Connie Heerman couldn't wait to teach her students about The Freedom Writers Diary. It's a book about "at-risk" students just like Connie's, who lead chaotic lives and have little expectation of finishing high school. Connie requested permission from her school administration to teach the book. When she received no response, she went ahead and gave the books out to her kids, and started teaching the unit. When the school found out, Connie was suspended for insubordination.Also in this episode: another in our occasional series of "tough jobs".

Diane Crump was the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby. It used to be illegal for a woman to be a jockey. Even after the law changed, male jockeys would boycott any woman who tried. Also in this episode, a check-in with Jeremy Lee.